Production of cyanuric acid from urea



June 28, 1960 R. H.. wEsTFALL 2,943,088

PRODUCTION OF CYANURIC ACID FROM URBA Filed June 22. 1959 s sheets-sheet 1 7U #E60/467?? SYSTEM www `lune 28, 1960 R. H. WESTFALL PRODUCTION OF CYANURIC ACID FROM UREA 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 22, 1959 June 28, 1960 R. H. wEs'rFALL 2,943,088

PRODUCTION 0F CYANURIO ACID FROM UREA Filed June 22, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 f 000 n f 54 0000000000` `0000000000` 000000000 00000000002 000000000"` `00000000 0000000000 `0000000000: 0000000000: I

MCY/VER f 64555 l s 0000000000 4u/#64 5 `0000000000 l Arran/v i 2,943,088 Peteatedflaae 2.8 1.9550

. 343,033 Y PRoDUcTIoNoFfCYANUnIc ACID FRoMfUnEA `Filed junefzz, lass, ser. Nafszmse Y14 claims. .,(ci. zeep-224s) This invention .relates `to manufacture yof. cyamrcic v`acid .by `thefheat treatment furea, andjlhasas 'its'principal N ll l HO-C `although the .structureis probably anequilibrium between .the various possible forms. Itis one of the many .products obtainable bythe pyrolysis of.u1'ea,.thev equation being:

NH2 i Unfortunately, this reaction does not occur= alone. ,When urea is rheatedto temperatures above its meltingjpoint, it may also partially volatilize, isomerize toammonium Vcyanate, and lose ammonia and/orwaterand/orcarbon dioxide, to produce a range ofeproducts Vin addition to cyanuric acid. These products includea'rnides of'cyanuric acid--amme1ine, ammelide and melamine-,biu'retftiuret, dicyandiamide, ammoniumfcarbnatq cyanic acid and polymers thereof, and various-ot'lzl'er'materials'.`

v One major diculty with pyrolyzing urea-is the' vast number of possible products, and thefdi`lc11lty',`of ,controlling the reaction so as to minimize the'productifon of undesired products, and obtaining the desired endproduct'in good yieldv and inreadily purifableforrn. LThis'is most important Where the cyanuricacid is to Abe chlorinated, vsince it is essential, if satisfactory chlorinated cyanuric acids are to be obtained, tha't'evssentially pure cyanuric acid be usedI as the raw material. Hence,` it,` is `necessary to obtain a "commercial product essentially freeof other- 'degradation products of urea. 'i

Another major diiculty is thatrduring theipyrolysis, urea goesv'through a series of vphysical 'changes',*from solid to` liquid vto a plastic sticky mass and finally vto` a hard solid. AThis sequencel of physical l'changesv causes gumming, sticking and scaling troubles 'when attempts -are made .to Vpyrolyze ureaon any commercial scale.

Thus-despite .the lovv costvof urea, 'and ,th'evnobviousl economiesjof n a. simple vpyrolysis process, -the commercial preparation Vofthe various possible products of ureapyrol-V ysis.has beenaccomplished by other -means than vsimple pyrolysis.` ,ln the .case of Vcyanuric acid, many .other` processes have been s suggested, the commonly proposed ones involvingthe reaction of `urea in the Apresence of addition agents ,which alter the sequence Yofphysical statesobtained on simple pyrolysis followed by separation' of cyanuric acid from the addition agents.

` It is,an object of this invention gto provide angim proved method for ,the `manufacture of cyanuricl acid. `A further object Ais toprovidea process for the manuf `facture of crude cyanuric acid `which is convertibleby acid hydrolysis into commercially p ure cyanurica'cid, which process yields directly ra freelovving pelletedjproducft.

" Aiurther object of the present invention'is toprovide a process forthe pyrolysis ofv ureatoeyanuricacid, which i'sI characterized"-by the fac't lthat urea Vis converted-into cyanuric acid by heating above its melting point insuch ,amannerthattroubleffree operation witha minimum of `operator,k attention is provided. It ,is: another object 'of one v form fof the invention to operate with granules which are free=flowingand react uniformly, so that products 'fof improved pu'rityfare obtained with minimum effort and cost. `Another object is torimp'rove the over-all yields, and to minimize` ammelide formation,y so VVthat theQcost of acid fhydr'oly'sis"V 4is reduced.' '.Anotlienobject of the 'invention is to vprovide conditions ,Which permitofjcontinn nous operation and Veconomical Vrecovery of ureal values 'from the overheadgases. 1A' further object of the invention Ais the provision 'of means tolreover from theoyjerhead lgases,ureavalues which are directlyreusable'in ythe process, Without further treatment.

Thesev and 'other objects are obtained, accordingto the present invention, by heating urea ,While "continuously moving it, as =by tumbling, so that it melts i and deammoniates through a'viscous plasticTstatein/to aihard Vsolid st'at under "such conditions of agitation; ythatthe 'treactin productV is win fthe form of small granules, wherebythe Vreaction'can' readilyfbe brought to conclusin Without eXcessQive decomposition and ,volatilizatioli f M 'll'lerreactiony can befcarrie'd out withurea alone, in

while continuously tumblin'grthe freely moving mass past aheat exchange surface supplyingheatto` theimass, :ata FsixefedmofSO tov 1,000 lineal inchesper minute, 'sothatLas rvthe urea,melts` and dea mmoniates, `the reactiqn 'product ,slovvlygbrea'ks itself vup into smallVfree-ovving granulespf reaction A product kconsisting largely ,of` cyanuric acid and ammelide, with. some', mmeline .and minor quantities tatingthel granules t0. 1preserve. them infreeowing form throughoutthe reaction zonerunder., such conditions, very yFiggfzis a Aschematic-illustration of La plantjfor recycling granules tolget faster conversion.

Fig :3 is aipierspectiveV vievv,v withV the cover oif, `off-ja .pugmill useful in` treating kilnspill With urea'.

Fig. 4 is a schematic YcrossfsectionY ofxone forni of urea recovery'equipment.

Fig. 5 is a schematic cross section of a second form of urea recovery equipment.

When working with urea alone, care must be taken to heat the urea rather slowly. Urea has a melting point offaboutl 132 C. -If heating is continued after melting, gases are evolved and the inelt becomesincreasingly viscous and eventually solidiiies at' a temperaturefof 200- 300 C., depending largely on the rate of heating; if the heating is very slow, complete solidification may voccur as low as 200 C., While with rapid heating the mass may remain fluid for a short timeeven at 300 C. Attempts to prepare cyanuric acid by heating urea in an ordinary stirred reaction kettle have been unsatisfactory. As the product thickens and solidies, it adheres to the stirrer and kettle walls, the stirrer stops, and the product can only be removed with drill and chisel, or other similarly laborious means. VSuch product removal means are, of course, expensive and always involve a serious risk of injury to equipment and personnel. Furthermore, the caking of the reaction mass and the consequent Vdifficulty in providing effective agitation also results in limited heat transfer, and controlled, uniform heating of the reaction mass is difhcult, if not impossible. 1

Surprisingly, it has been found thatvthe free tumbling action available in a slowly rotating rotary kiln heated to about 24U-360 C., preferably about 280-340" C., is peculiarly suited for carrying out the thermal conversion of urea to cyanuric acid. The sequence of physical changes which occur during the conversion Vof urea to cyanuric acid are usuall in rotary kiln operation. As already disclosed, the crystalline urea melts to form a thin, mobile liquid which evolves gases and changes to a viscous plastic mass which eventually sets to a hard solid. One would expect that the sticky plastic mass would adhere to the kiln wall and solidify to form a hard coating which would be difiicult to remove. Indeed, it has been found that under some operating conditions this does .oc-

cur, and that even hammering on the kiln walls or tumbling steel rods, bars or I-beams inside the kiln does not prevent coating of the kiln walls with a scale which can be removed only with the greatest difficulty. On the `other hand, under other operating conditions, Athe product is obtained in large chunks and balls ranging in size from about six inches up to about one foot or more in diameter. This results in handling and crushing problems, as well as lack of uniformity in cyanuric acid content due to poor heat transfer through the large chunks with consequent poor yields. Surprisingly, however, it has been found that when the kiln is operated under certain closely controlled conditions, the molten urea c631- verts over the course of the reaction into a granular, free flowing product with a minimum of scaling on the kiln walls, and with no large lumps. The granular form of product not only ensures uniformity of reaction, but has the practical advantage of ease of handling and conveying, very little dusting, and no'need for crushing as a preliminary to grinding.

Urea is charged into a rotary kiln and then, with the kiln rotating at such a rate as to result in a peripheral speed of between about 50 inches per minute and about 1,000 inches per minute, the kiln is heated, suitably by externally applied gas ames, until the temperature reaches a point between 240 C. and about 360 C. The kiln is then usually allowed to cool somewhat, although cooling is not essential, and the product is then removed in the form of granules or small lumps. The particle size of the product is apparently dependent upon such factors as heating rate and peripheral speed of rotation of the kiln. The maximum temperature reached by the kiln walls appears to have very little effect on the particle size, but does determine the extent to which product adheres to the kiln. The heating rate and peripheral speed of rotation which produce the preferred granular or pelletized product appear to be interrelated.

High peripheral speeds and high heatingrrates favor 4 t formation of large balls or lumps of product, while low heating rates and low peripheral speeds favor formation of pellet-form product. At low heating rates even high peripheral speeds result in pellet form products, and low peripheral speeds even at high heating rates do also, although under these conditions the resulting pellets tend to be a little larger. -Under most conditions which favor formation of a pelletized kiln product, a small amount of'cyanuric acid remains on the kiln walls as an adherent scale. This adheres tightly to the wall only when the maximum temperature is in the lower part of the operating range; the adhering tendency can usually be over-- come by increasing the maximum kiln temperature, though raising the temperature increases the rate of volatilization of product, and this makes operation at temperatures above 360 C. generally undesirable.

In general, batch heating times of the order of 50 to 200 minutes are desirable in attaining. the objects of the instant invention with'normal commercial batches of 100 to 1,000 pounds'.Y More rapid heating rates in kilns of any size will tend to cause lump formation; longer heating times tend to cause4 undue overhead losses, particularly at the higher operating temperatures which favor clean heat transfer surfaces.` l l The rotary kilns which can be used may'vary widely in physical dimensions and in methods Aof heating. Essentially, such a kiln will comprise a heated, substantially cylindrical vessel adapted for rotation about its axis, which axis is either horizontal or slightly inclined from the horizontal enough to permit continuous gravity discharge of kiln contents after the necessary residence time in the kiln. There have been used for the practice of this invention kilns with diameters about equal to their length, and kilns with lengths four and a half times their diameters. An even greater ratio of length to diameter is sometimes useful, especially in continuous operation. The kiln and its contents are preferably heated by means of externally applied gas flames, but in some instances a minor portion of the necessary heating is supplied by passing either a ame or a current of pre-heated gases into the kiln itself.

Suitable bales, dams, scrapers and hammers may be provided for batch or continuous kilns to improve the free tumbling of the reaction mass, regulate flow, and help control product particle size. As pointed out above, there is a relationship existing between peripheral speed, rate of heating, maximum wall temperature, and product form. It is preferred, of course, to obtain the product in pellets or small lumps. This may be accomplished even at relatively high peripheral speeds if the heating rate is low, but with a high heating rate, the peripheral speed must be low. At speeds of 500 lineal inches per minute or more, in kilns holding pounds of urea, it

is essential that at least an hour be taken to reach a typical top temperature of 280 C. to 300 C. if balling and lumping are to be avoided; at lower peripheral speeds, of the order of 250 inches per minute, somewhat faster heating may be used, while at higher speeds even slower heating is necessary.

It has been observed that the yield of cyanuric acid, particularly when operating at temperatures in the lower portion of the preferred temperature range, can be considerably enhanced by causing a slow current of an inert gas, such as nitrogen, flue gas, or the like, to pass through the kiln in which the urea is being converted to cyanuric acid, or by partially evacuating the kiln. Apparently this yield improvement results because the accumulation of substantial amounts of ammonia in the reaction zone, which favors formation of cyanuric amides, is thereby prevented.

The kiln produced cyanuric acid usually assays from about 60% to about 65% 4cyanuric acid, and appears to contain Varying amounts of ammonia, and cogeners of cyanuric acid such as its amides, ammelide and ammeline. Care must` be taken in assaying thiscrude 4cyanuric acid since, by Ordinary alkalimetric methods, some of the. co`- genere. of cyanuric acid behave like cyanuric acid and cause erroneously high analytical results. Thus, all analytical results reported in the literature without details of the analytical methods used are questionable.

In assaying. cyanuric acid, correct results are notob-1 tained unless interfering cogeners are removed prior to determination of the contained cyanuric acid. Even this removal is difficult to perform completely, and for greatest accuracy, the cogeners, such as ammelide, remaining during. analysis must be taken into consideration. Instead ofl dissolving in hot standardized caustic soda solution, the crude acid is dissolved in water at room temperature and the very slightly solubleamrnelide is filtered oi. The laqueous filtrate containsall of thecyanuric acid and a small amount of ammelide. The totalv ofvthese soluble substances Vis then determined titrirnetrically. The ammelide in the aqueous -solution is determined by ultraviolet absorption and' the titrimetric results corrected to give atrue measure of the cyanuric acid content of the product. If these precautions are not taken during assay, a typical crude product made by pyrolysis of urea, which actually contains 62p% cyanuric acid, may be erroneously reported to contain as much as 81% cyanuric acid.

Higher conversion may beA obtained, much more rapidly, by recycling a portion of the crude cyanuric acid granules, after mixing them with from about one-half to one-sixth of their weight of urea, andfeeding the mixture through a heated reaction zone, with a discharge temperature of 2'109 Oto 375 C. while continuously agitat-4 ing the granules to preserve them in free-owing form throughout the reaction zone.

With such mixtures, there is, in general, a relationship between bed trernperatureY and residence time in the reaction zone. At the upper temperature limit, the residence time should be held close toa minimum preferred time ofY about six minutes in order to minimize volatilization of product and of urea. In the lower part of the temperatnre range, substantially longer residence times may A be used, but preferably residence times beyond 40 minutes should be avoided to minimize` overhead losses.

The crude reaction products obtained contain to or more cyanuric acid, over 95% @of eyanuric acid plus. aramclide and a very Small amount of water soluble: impurities, so that acid hydrolysis of the product` to commsrcially pure cyanuri. acid is a very Simple and inexpensiveoperation. Furthermore, the over-all yield, based on urea consumed inthe process, is about of theoretical, and only a small amount of the urea is volatilized andneeds to be recovered.

1in/this form` of the process of this invention, the gases containing the volatilizedV urea ow at a relatively uni,- form, rate, so thateconomical treatment to recover urea values should be possible. However, the, composition of the gas streamy is complex, comprising, in addition to urea 'and small amounts of cyanuric acid, biuret, ammonia, carbon dioxide,- water, cyanic acid, and perhaps other constituents. Recovery of useful urea valuesv from these complex vapors, in a form which can be readily and-completely reused in the process of manufacturing cyanuric acid, is diicult. Recovery in 'a cold condenserwould involve condensation of solids with attendant removal problems, In addition, on condensation in a cold condenser, the urea, partially condenses as solid ammonium cyanatewhich can be converted-back to useful urea values only. inlow yield andwith considerable diiculty, and as ammonium carbamate or carbonate which cannot be reconvertedtofurea or to cyanuric acidandthus represents a loss of ureaandcyanuric acid from` the system. On the other; hand, it has now been discoveredthat the apparent vapor, pressure `0f ureavincreasesrapidly abo-ve itsmelting point. Illlrea has an apparent vapor pressure of 28.0 mm. Hg at C, Itmelts at 132 C., and the molten urea.y has apparent vapor pressures of 100 mm. Hgat 140 C.,

Thus, operation of a simple urea condensation. systeni above 'the melting` point` of ureal would; entail serious losses. ofure'a becase'of its. high vapor pressure.. According to this'inventiomthe surprising discovery has been madevthatthe urea valuesY can be preferentially sepas rated fnom. the complex reactor: gas mixture-invery high yield and in a liquid form lwhich can belretmned directly to the blendingoperation WithoutA furtherfprocessing by passingY the reactor gases through.. a condenser with condensing surfaces maintained apprecia'bly` below the melting point of urea,'in the rangeof. 115 to.130."C.

Under some circumstances, such as` when Apreparing the reactor feed by` blending with aqueous` urea solutions, it is convenient to recover urea values from the! reactor gases by contacting the gases with a hot aqueousurea solutiony in conventional" scrubbing equipment., It has been found; that' when the reactor gases` arefscrubbed withaqueous urea solution at temperatures: intherrange of 70-l00 C., itispossible to` collectv the urea values without condensation of! an` appreciableA portion of the water content of the reactor` gases. At the 'same time, i

it has beenL -found that the conversion` of ureavalues to ammonium'cyanate, ammonium carbamate'and ammonium carbonate, which` occurs; in solid; condensate systems below 100 C., is there avoided. d f

The reaction mixture is maintained in the formf ofi small granules byblending about 65 tot8`5-or-rnoreparts of small granules obtained from the process-withabout 35 to 15- or less parts of freshl urea, chargingt-he granular blend into the reaction. vessel, and agitating thegranules sufficiently to prevent them from sticking while the ureappasses `from a clearthin liquid throughiafviscous plastic stage into the hard solid' end product of; the pyrolysis. The agitationA necessary toA prevent granule adhesion inthe processV dependson the method used for blending the urea` and the granules of' pyrolysis product.

The granules used` ini the process-i shouldl preferably bein the average particle size range of from 6 Yinch to 1/2 inch in diameter to get optimum results, )although somewhat larger granules can-beused.

Most preferably, the urea Yisble'ndedl with the hot crude cyanuric acidl granulesby spraying al portion of the hot` discharge fromthe reaction. with commercial-aqueous urea solution (72%- solutibn), preferably increased in strength by addition. of overhead condensate, using-about 35` or less parts by dry4 weight of urea to 65 or more parts by Weight of crude cyanuric acid granules. The heat in the granules evaporates thewater, andlther-e results crude cyanuricy acid granules,` essentially impregnated with urea for about one-third or more of the diameter of the granules. For economicA reasons, it is` desirable not to exceed 85 parts. by` weight crudeicyanuric acid granules-to 1*-5 parts by weight-urea. d

Another method of blending the reaction product with: urea is to spray molten urea onto. thehot-reactionproduct while intensively blending the batch as in apug mill, or a sigmal or ribbon blender. Intensive blending is essential in order-toprevent sticking from'v taking.v place, andi conversion of the granules to balls'. The maximum. amount ,of molten urea thatcan be sprayed` onwithout; difliculty is about 25 urea to 75-:crudecyanuri'c.acid. gran-lt ules; below l5 parts urea to 85' crude cyanuric acid the process is less desirable economically. Theproduct com, sists essentially of' granules of crudecyanuric acidimpregnatedy and coated with partially pyrolyzed' ureag the. impregnation is less` deep than with aqueous urea. Regardlessv 0f whichy method. is used; to, grensrethe. granules, nthey Optimum composition. range: which; lies at from 25 i urea to 7-5; crudecyanuric acidtafZlburaa-to f 80 crude cyanuric` acid, this new composition off 2,73 Hg at C., and 619 mm. Hgh at 152 C. 75, the conversion of urea to, cyuaituric.'acidY proceeds eyepiy4 with' the. granules; made.V

and smoothly under the conditions of this invention. With this composition the reaction can be carried on in a variety of types of reactors, including fluid bed reactors, Herreschoi'furnaces, pug mills, ribbon of screwtype blenders, and the like. In a rotary kiln the peripheral speed may be varied over a wide range as dictated by other kiln requirements without regard for the problems of sticking and scaling.

When the composition prepared by blending aqueous urea with hot, crude cyanuric acid'contains 35 urea to 65 crude cyanuricacid, control of agitation is essential to prevent sticking at some point in the pyrolysis. Agitation by moving a heat transfer Vsurface (as in a rotary kiln) past the bed of granules at a rate of about l150 to 500 inches per minute will prevent any sticking from occurring, and will preserve the granularcharacter of the reaction mixture. When higher proportions of urea are used than 35 to 65, control of kiln operating conditions to prevent sticking of the granules becomes too diflicult for ordinary commercial operation, and so such compositions should preferably not be used.

When operating the process under optimum conditions, the aqueous urea is sprayed onto three times its anhydrous weight of hot granules of crude cyanuric acid in an agitated mixer such as a pug mill, there being just suflicient heat retained in this amount of crude product to evaporate the water in this amount of commercial aqueous urea without adding any heat. The remainder of the crude cyanuric acid which is not blended with aqueous urea is further treated to recover the desired cyanuric acid.

When molten urea is added to three times its weight of hot granules ofY crude cyanuric acid, the heat retained in the crude product is sufficient to convert a portion of the urea to biuret and cyanuric acid, so that partial pyrolysis of the urea occurs during the blending operation. More than 50% of the urea can be converted to cyanuric acid or its cogeners under these conditions, and the granular blend'charged to the calciner contains as little as 10% unconverted urea and 90% of a mixture of crude cyanuric acid and partially pyrolyzed urea. When of molten urea is sprayed onto 85% of hot kiln spill, the granules may contain no more than 5% unconverted urea. This permits an additional thermal economy in the over-all urea conversion process.

Blending can be done by simple mixing of crystalline urea with the cooled reaction product, and this mixture can be fed into the reaction vessel. With such a feed, agitation control becomes important, since the urea, on going through the viscous plastic state, can cause balling of the granules by making them adhere to one another. In general, the agitation produced in a rotary kiln, in which the heat transfer surface goes past the tumbling bed of pellets at between 150 and 400 lineal inches per minute, is sufficient to prevent loss of the granular character of the bed.

In blending crystalline urea with granules, the maximum ratio of urea to granules which can be used in plant practice is about 30 urea to 70 crude cyanuric acid granules. Above this ratio, sticking and balling occur in the reaction zone to a suflicient extent to interfere with continuous operation, even when operating conditions are carefully controlled.

The process, in general, operates to cause fines to grow in size. With aqueous urea and molten urea feed to the blending operation, the granules charged 'to the reactor are generally low in fines. The product is also low in fines and tends to maintain the preferred size range through many cycles of blending and pyrolysis. With crystalline urea feed to the blending operation, the reactor feed is higher in fines and there is some agglomeration and formation of a small amount of oversize in the reactor product. This oversize should not be fed directly to the blending operation if optimum process operation is desired. Because of the larger quantity of fines in the crystalline urea blend, optimum conditions for reactor operation are slightly different from those with the aqueous urea and molten urea blends.

In handling mixtures of crystalline urea and granules in a rotary kiln as distinguished from impregnated granules, it is essential that the kiln wall be not too hot at the feed end of the kiln to prevent scaling of the walls. With this type of feed the kilns are heated less strongly at the feed end than with impregnated granular feed, so that the preferred maximum feed end bed temperature is about C. With the impregnated and coated granular feed of this invention, there is no critical upper limit on the bed temperature at the feed end of the kiln except .that required to minimize volatilization of urea and overloading of the recovery system. `It is also, in general, unnecessary to provide Scrapers or other mechanical devices when operating with a feed consisting of impregnated and coated granules but, with a feed comprising a blend of crude, granular product and crystal urea, the use of a scraping device permits a wider range of Operating conditions.

The residence time necessary in the practice of the process depends to a considerable extent on the temperature used, and the temperature profile in the equipment used. In a rotary kiln, for example, which is being uniformly heated, the feed end is being continuously cooled by the addition of the feed material, and heat is absorbed in the pyrolysis, so that the temperature will rise continuously toward the discharge end of the kiln. Immediately after the granular feed enters the reactor, it passes through a sticky stage where scaling of the Walls or agglomeration of the granular bed may occur. This stage occurs in the temperature range below about 200 C. The time required to heat the reacting mixture up through this sticky zone will vary slightly depending on the method of preparing the granular feed but is not critical as long as the conditions of feed preparation and reactor operation herein described are observed.

In general, it s necessary to provide suiiicient total residence time in a reactor for the pyrolysis of urea to proceed substantially to completion. Total residence times of about 40 minutes suflice if the final temperature attained by the reacting material is 230 C.; for a 250 C. final temperature, 15 minutes total residence time is generally enough. The minimum total residence time to accomplish substantially complete conversion of urea to crude cyanuric acid is about 7 minutes at 300 C. final temperature. The preferred final temperature is about 230 to 300 C., although the process can be operated up to about 375 C. before overhead losses become undesirably high. When operating at a final temperature of 300 C. or above, it is preferable to keep the total residence time as short as possible, but at lower final temperatures, residence times in excess of those needed for complete conversion to crude cyanuric acid do not impose serious problems in recovering urea values from the off gases.

In working up the kiln spill, from either form of the present invention, substantially pure cyanuric acid is obtained by subjecting the kiln produced cyanuric acid (containing salts and amides thereof as impurities or co-products) to digestion with a hot dilute aqueous strong acid. The process employs no catalyst for the ureacyanuric conversion, so consequently there is no catalyst to be washed out; instead of washing away the basic organic materials formed along with cyanuric acid in the thermal decomposition of urea (which basic materials are largely amides of cyanuric acid), the crude 4kiln product is heated (after grinding, if necessary, to reduce particle size) with a dilute aqueous solution of a strong acid, which treatment results in the selective hydrolysis of these basic acid-soluble amides to additional cyanuric acid.

Almost any strong acid may be used for this digestion step, such as hydrochloric, hydrobromic, sulfuric, nitric or phosphoric acids. Organic acids such as `alkane or aryl sulfonic or phosphonic acids may also be employed 19 for this digestion process, hutpgssess no advantages for this` service to otset their muchgreater` cost; accordingly, they are not included the preferredY classof'digestion agents: Acidiconcentrations of from.' about o ne to'about 25'. percent are preferred for the hydrolysis-digestion' treatment, nwith concentrations offfrom aboutf3% to 15%` beingl most preferred.' Whileit is'possible to conduct'the digestion at atmospheric pressure' silperatmospheric pressures of'up to 100 pounds per square inch may bel ernprloyed; operation at superatmospheric pressure permits digestionr atsomewhat higher temperatures than are prac tical'vvlth atmospheric pressure digestion, andj accordingly shortens the time required: Time and temperatpre of treatment are not extremely rcritical-[but are interrelated; in general, the use'iofjhigher digestipn temperatures permits employment roff shortertreatmentv times. The digestionmay be conductedat approximately the atinospheiic pressure Yboiling point ofi-theV digestipn acid' used; for a period of from'about onehourt about-ten hours. Y Y i i The effect of the ac id digestion, treatment is'tvvo-fold. When the kiln produced cyanuric acid is subjected to digestion with hot dilute strong' acid,A probably the rst tltinathat Occurs is that all' matsrialsfrsadilysoluble ini the dilutestrong-acid arsdissolvesleeut @.f the saliti. As, a consequence ofthis, the cyanuric aid-percentageon? tent ofthe undissolved material is imrnediatel'yfinjlproved;l ie.,` the improvement in purity is immediate?, lne addi-V tion to` this .immediate effect-,Qn product purity,- tlsers; is s slower increase in the amount of ,cyatiuriesctl Present, apparently due to the selective hydrolysis off acid-soluhleI cyanuricnacid` amides to formA additional.-cyanurie aid.

It` hasbeen found that thecyanuric: acid refined and obtained by this digestion treatmenthasravery low am-I monia. content (lessI than 0.1%), aridis entirely suitalrnlel fors,hlsrinatimt Kiln product@ cyan-,urls risantainsmorethanl%l ammoniagvvsuch-anarnrnon A lontent rendersv the product. unsuitable for chlorination- ("Atfl monia'content? as used herein, includes bothy freei ammoniaand ammonia presentasammonium sal `tdpes not include ammonia combined asamideigroupingst) Fortreasons of economy andconvenience, hydrochloric and sulfuricacids are the preferred acids for thedigestion. refining of crude cyanuric acid, with)hydroeliloricyacid-theI most preferred. The same batch of digestion acid may be used for successive batchesfofLfkiln-made cyanuric acid. Under such conditin'isv of use, ofcourse, there willvbe a build-upk of ammonium saltswliisltiiiav, be. separates* by known` means. Fromf time tojtime fresh acidV may, be

acid, continuous or intermittent separation of ammonium salts `formed in the digestion, and continuousvvithdrawal of digested and purified cyanuric acid.y

Although, as stated above, time andl temperature; of the acid Y digestion and; the concentration oithey acid i used are notextremely critical, it has` been found that-a digestion temperature of 75 C. gives results inferior to those Obtained at the boilingpeine It has; beenifoundi that hzy...0h1,0i .acdfoff 0-11v N. ceacentration is; relatiyely 1in,- effectual in upgrading crude kiln produced cyanuric acid but that concentrations of-l N andhigher are '.quiteretlective, withgconcentrationsj 3 Nxandhigherr'giving the best results.V Digestiontimes. of one hour have, been: found.

to.V give commercially significant vimprovement cyanuric acidgrecovery. from 20.mesh anditnericrude. cyanuric 'hour stimati 10 acidi. and. inergeasingly: greater; recoveries; aresobtanednp to beet f Q fhcuri-digestiontimes.. Increasing-digestion time bei/.anti abQut-r fontvv henrsthasnot been found to give commercially signilicant improvement in cyanuric aislirecxery, lioweveri. Digestion. times et lesstthan one s.: leave.- ani appreciableportionof nie-po-r teiitiallnres Yerablecyanuriaacid in the; form` of acid-` snlulilje entities.. Y The following examples are given by wayoffillustra-g tiononly, and. itfkisilunderstood that the, invention is not limited:- thsret,

lErattlnlesf Ifte VIII h hownin Eig, lf.- Thekiln consists oa stainless er,- 111); about; 72;:1nches-long and 16 inches'in divarnetenek yOneend,v 1.11A is closed;,th e other endcarries a removable head LllZghaYillgf 2r.-t.WQ inch hole 114 inV its. center. A pipe 116 connects this hole to anrexhaust 118, which leads ot to a scrubbing system for the vent gases, in whichvsystemurea valuescan be recovered. VThe kilnis. heatedon` the-bottom by a gas.iburnerf120. Itrotates-on. pairs of rollers 122 carried on supports 124. 'A motor 146 rotates thekiln. through a; chain` 128, acting;v ona. sprocket'ltl carried bythe kiln.

C Example! One hundred pounds of urea are placed in the kiln, andatter' replacing the removable head, the kiln is;v caused to rotate about'itsaxis at-g-aspeedof 10:11pm., correspond-- ingy toa peripheral speedof about 50() inchesper minute.. Heating-lis now commencedvby gasflames directed against.`

the-lower side-ofthe kiln. Heating and rotation are cor1- Y the desirable end product, and the chunks, on analysis show considerably higher assay` of cyanuric acid on the surface of the chunks than in their interiors. Furthermore, the interiors contain lessmaterial convertible to cyanuricaeid on ,hydro lysis,, sof that over-all yields are,Y saltata tially.b less. than; f Or granules products. withV the sarna nerntage conversion t0 cyanuric. acid.

Exemple, ll

This issimilar to` Example I', and isv carried out in the same equipment. The kiln rotates at 5 r.p.m., equivalentto a peripheral speed of1250 inches per minute. After 51 minutes-of heating, the temperature reaches 270 C.,I

and after dicontinuance of: heating, a maximum temperature of 2871 C.- isreached. The product consists largely of pellets .rangingfin size-from 1A; inch uto 2 inches, but a part of thev product remains on the kiln wallsashan adherent, hard-to-remove scale; theY entire product Weighs 58 pounds and` assays160.-5%cyanuricF acid.` Y

It will be noted that as compared with Example I, the

kiln speed is halt' and the heating rate is just a bit slower.

It will be; noted that despite thersale, which yalways represents ,arloss of yieldbecause offhigher volatilization, the v product,v is, obtained vin higher1 yield than' Vin, Example .I, besides being easiertto; handle.v

ExampleV 1.1.1

For this example, the: samev equipment and general procedure `are used as in Example I. The kiln rotatesatY 1.5 r.p.m., equivalent to a` peripheral'speed of about `75 inches per minute. Sixty-four minutes of heating is re.

quired to-heat kilny and contents to.320 C. .Thereafter l the temperaturey risesto a maximurnfotv 3249" C. The4 product weighs 55 poundsandf assays 64.4% cyanuric runginf equipment essentiallyv acid; there is a small amount of easily removable scale on the kiln wall, but the bulk of the material consists of small pellets with a few chunks up to 2 inches in diameter.

At this lower speed and slighlty lower heating rate,

conversion to granular material is substantially more com Example IV This example is also generally similar to Example I. Rotation is at a rate of 5 r.p.m., equivalent to a peripheral speed of ,250 inches per minute. Seventy-four minutes of heating are required to heat the kiln and its contents to 345 C., afterwhich the temperature rises without additional heating to a maximum of 361 C. In this case, the kiln walls are completely clean, and the product is obtained in the form of small pellets about 1/s inch in diameter; the product weighs 52 pounds, assaying 63.6% cyanuric acid. Here, the effect of lowheating rate and moderate speed has resulted in complete conversion to the granular state. More urea has been volatilized and must be recovered; above this temperature, yields drop sharply, as can be noted from Example V.

Example V This also employs the equipment and general procedure of Example I. Rotational speed is 5 rpm., and 135 minutes of heating are required to raise the temperature to 395 C. The yield is 37 pounds of fine pellets assaying 61.6% cyanuric acid. It is believed that the relatively poor yield in this example is due to volatilization losses of cyanuric acid at the extremely high temperature employed.

Example VI This also employs the equipment and general procedure of Example I, except that 135 pounds of urea were charged. The kiln rotates at 22 r.p.m., equivalent to a peripheral speed of 1,100 inches per minute. After 63 minutes of heating, the temperature rises without additional heating to a maximum of 281 C. The kiln walls are completely clean. The product, which weighs 70.5 pounds and assays 57.6% cyanuric acid; consists of irregular lumps and chunks up to 12 inches in diameter.

This illustrates the effect of high speed on balling and lumping, even at moderate heating rates. Compared with Example II, both the over-all yield and the percentage of conversion are adversely affected by the lumping. As in Example I, conversion was much better on the outside of the big balls than in the interiors, resulting in losses, and bad effects on further processing.

Example VII This example is also generally similar to Example I. The kiln rotates at 20 r.p.m., equivalent to a peripheral speed of 1,00() inches per minute. After 44 minutes of heating, the temperature of the Vkiln and contents reaches 274 C., after which the temperature rises without additional heating to a maximum of 293 C. A small part of the product adheres to the walls as a hard-to-remove scale. The whole product weighs 53.0 pounds and assays 56.8% cyanuric acid. It consists of large irregular, hard lumps. A t

Here we see the effect of a rapid heating rate at high speed; yit will be noted that the lumps show the same lower conversions obtained ,in Example VI.

'12 Example VIII This example also employs the equipment and general procedure of Example I. The kiln rotates at 20 r.p.m., equivalent to a peripheral speed of 1,000 inches per minute. The heating rate is ymuch lower than that used in the experiment of Example VII, however, so that 115 minutes are required for the temperature of the kiln and contents to reach 270 C. The temperature does not rise beyond 270 C. after the heating is stopped. A small part of the product adheres to the walls as a hard-to remove scale. The remainder consists of small pellets ranging up to about 2 inches in diameter.

This'example shows how a slow heating rate will cause pellet formation under conditions where a rapid heating rate causes balling and lumping.

The following example illustrates continuous operation of the process using urea feed. Because of the necessity of breaking up the balls formed by the action of the molten urea at the feed end, substantial residence times were necessary.

Example IX For this example, a small laboratory kiln, 8 inches long and seven and three-eighths inches in diameter, was used, with one end closed and with the other end having a four inch diameter hole in its center to permit of feed and overflow. The kiln was filled up to the bottom of the hole with crude cyanuric acid granules prepared previously, of 3A@ to 1A inch average particle size. The kiln was rotated at 10.25 r.p.m. (equal to 230 inches per minute peripheral speed), and the bed heated to 320 C., as measured in the bed of granules. Molten urea was added at the rate of about six grams per minute to the tumbling pellets, and the product overflowed from the open end of the kiln at a rate varying from 50 to 125 grams per hour; there was also a considerable evolution of vapors and white fumes. The pellets assayed 71% to cyanuric acid, the balance largely ammelide. The overhead losses were very high, due mainly to long residence times occasioned by the necessity for very slow feed under the conditions of test.

The products of the pyrolysis can be worked up into commercially acceptable cyanuric acid by the procedure shown in the following example.

Example X A portion of the product of Example IH is pulverized to give a product 99% of which will pass through a 20 mesh screen. 25 grams of the pulverized material is then placed in a 250 ml. glass flask provided with a stirrer and reux condenser and containing 65 ml. of 7% hydrochloric acid. Stirring and heating are commenced, and the temperature is raised as rapidly as convenient to about 103 C., at which temperature boiling occurs. After four hours of digestion at the boiling point, the mixture is cooled to about 40 C. and filtered. The filter cake is washed with about 50 ml. of cold water and dried in an oven at C. The dried product is found to weigh 22.34 grams and assays 100% cyanuric acid. It is found to contain less than 0.1% NH3. Since the starting material for this digestion contains only 16.10 g. of cyanuric acid, the digestion process is seen to resultin a 138% recovery of cyanuric acid from the crude kiln product; the better than 100% recovery is believed to be due to selective hydrolysis of cyanuric amides to cyanuric acid. The over-all yield of pure cyanuric acid based on urea is 68.5% of theoretical.

In operating 'with recycled granules of crude cyanuric acid mixed with urea, the apparatus shown in Figs. 2 to 5 is employed.

A slightly inclined kiln 10 is provided, about 6 to 8 times as long as in diameter; it is driven by a motor `12 through a chain drive 14. At the upper feed end of the kiln, there is provided a s'crew feeder 16 fed by a hopper 18; the feeder is driven by a motor 20 through a chain .,driVeZz. YA.scraper 24is keyed to the stationary housing 15 of the screw feeder 16-and the rotationoflhekiln against. the stationary .scraper provides A,.a'gidiAtvi'onal. :agita- Qtion :at the feed end-of the kiln.

At the discharge end26 of th .kiln,v.a;small..dam.28

y.provided to .control residenceutime andheatatransfer eiliciency in the kiln. The kilnend'z isLmounted-in an exhaust pipe 29 which vents gases to.a,-recoverysystem through a vent130. `Atuthe.bottoni of. the.pipe f29 are mounted aproduct discharge tube .32 and Ha mixer 3.4, `10 `E`With-openings proportioned as deSiIetl-tobleed oil-11%. .tto :ofthe discharge to end productfand :thefrest to .-the;mixer. AA -tank 36 -for ureajsolutionQ-standard com- Inmercial solution preferablyincreased--in strengthfby-addii tion of overhead condensate) is arranged above the-mixer,

to discharge urea asdesired into .the mixer 3'4 through a pipe 38; a spray head 40 distributes the solution onto the .hot spill in the mixer 34shown.in Figure 3. 4 K

The mixer 34 is a'standard pug mill, and. comprises .av pair of shafts `42 rotating in oppositedirections,withy staggered blades 44 onthe shafts Whichact tosimultaneously mix the material and convey itA from thegfeed .end 46,` where .the kiln spill .dropsand is sprayedwith vthe aqueous urea, (to a discharge port 48'. from whence the impregnated granules can be fed-directly to thefeedi hopper 18.

' There is a tendency for the overhead gases to .condense out, on the walls of the exhaustpipe 29 and vent 30, as a solid condensate consisting mainly of cyanuricacid, .if

the wall temperatures .lie in the. range ofabout 190-2200V C. vWhen thesefwall temperatures .aremaintainedabove about 220 C., .there is little or .no .condensationofsolid material lin the gas. exhaust system until the gases :reach the recovery -system 50. ,In the. recovery isysterrushovvn inFig. 4, the condensing-surfaces ofthe condenser'Y 52?..`

are maintained at .a temperaturefof 115-130- C..-by'a jacket 54 inwhich.hot oil .is-.,circulated. Surprisingly, at -these low temperatures,..belo.wrthemelting point of urea, a liquid condensate` collectson the sideofthecondenser 52, consisting mainly` ofiurea .with fsornefbiuret. and

very small quantities of. cyanuric :acid amides. {Eheimcondensed vent gases pass outthrough afyent- 56. The liquid running down the. sidescollectsat .thebottom of the condenser 52 and is removed through .thedvalve l58.

It is then addedto the aqueousmrea .storage .ta1 1k,.vvhet"eH it servesto rraise'the strengthof .the .aqueous urea.

` If the temperature of the condensate is .raised above 130 C., recovery of urea valueslisreduced becauseof the rapid increase in Vapor pressure. of `ureavvvith .temperature above 130 C.; ifthe temperature .isreduced below Y.

115 i C., the condensatefreezes on .thecondenSing-surface, interfering with proper operation,..andzdecreasing urea recovery because of partial .conversion .tollammonium ,cy-anate and ammonium carbamate.

Inr the alternate recovery equipmentshownin ,5,1 therireactor gases are passed up sthroughVV a. scrubber 62.

packed with Raschig rings.64. -An Y'aqueous urea isolution is circulated through the scrubber through inletV I70 and outlet 72 and is maintained at a temperature in the range of 704100 C. by jacket 66. A.portion ofr this ,ure-a solution is continuously added-to the urea storage tank 36. The temperature and concentration' of the scrubbing solutionl are adjusted at 70-.to 100 C. to prevent the condensation ofwater-vapor from the reactor gases.

Examples of the processjusingF aqueous urea. nated granules are asfollows: n

Example XI impreg- A kiln l foot in diameter by 8 feet inflength isiused, essentially like that shown in the drawing with a 4 inch dam at the discharge end using the aqueous scrubber of Fig. 5. Hot kiln spill, .almost entirely granules 1/16 to 1/2 inch in diameter, is dropped 'into the pug mill at 255 C.,

and sprayed withr ureasolution, to `get granules of crude "11514 .cyanuric acidsaturated to-.about..one,.third ofthegranule ,depthJNvith urea. `.iIihe ,hot .impregnatedgranules .are fed v,directly.,.backintoQthe .ki1n. Y j

' L The kiln 7is operatcd .continuously .over. a I.threefhour .Q 5 .periodyat akspee'd of 7. r.p.rn.. and ,with a yslope of 1A..inch npeffoot; During.this..time,:177.5pounds :of .urea are .fed intothesystem, ontoaboutT/O pounds.. of crude product from the,.kiln, -(urea-crude cyanurioacid ratiofof 2.1 to 7. 9 nv'vhile .about 97..pounds-of crude ycyanuric. acid .are [d livered` to processing into commercially pure Ncyagnuric :.=ac1d,f ffusing .theprocess describedrin Example mThe reactor gases are passed through a columnfpacked with Raschig rings, throughyvhich is circulated a '72% 1 aqueous urea solution maintained at 85'-90 C. Of the l5 lurea sfpedlfginto @the system, 116.16% 1 is" recovered :Sin this .'tscrubher, as measuredfbyv increase-iin. contentofl urea vplus --.,s mal11-amounts ilofebiuret and 1cyanuric acid. v

-. '1 FEhe. kilruproductl contains 792% :cyanuricacidfand Y, 20 vertsralmostiquantitatively .intocyanuricp acid, and residual impurities .wash out, and theproductrresultingisfalmost V.110.0% ffpurecyauuric facid. f Based on :the'urea consumed inzthe .process-thesyeld .of `4pure icyanutricy acid is?, about v`:588.5.%ahe"a1ossesfare; occasioned'fzpartially by' loss of y25;` solubleswin'fthefacid conversion,- but mainly by' breakdown cof theureav values .to CO2. ,-Uponzoompletion offtherun, the kiln-.Walls are A.found to beffree of adheringrnaterial, ievlencatfthe2feed'end.` This is .remarkablein viewofltlhe 1; sti'ckyznatu're: ofiurea itself` at 4theternperatures` prevailing :Example -XII i5 This exampleis run in the continuous kiln Vof Example )inches high, Qrsulting sin; :a kiln hold up of .only v171.4

v-pounds fT-hefkilnispperated continuously overja 3.5 l

` vhourjperirl d,` duringwhich time a granular mixture Vcon- ,`sistin'g-of*7 6.l5% crude 'Icyanuric acidand 24.5% urea, vrnadeb'y blending kiln* discharge .Withaqueous urea, .is fedi-atan average 'rate of,13.'74 poundsper minute. 'Dischargeltemperaturefis about 345V C., but retention'n'me only v4.7 'minutes Analysis of productsamplesfshows urea plusbiuret ,contents. ranging 'from Vv,0.4% :up to .l0-41%., indicating incomplete sonversicn- 0f; urea warmte cyanuracid duustleast. part ofthecperatpn l.

Example XIII u frais Xara/pie is 'am in the kiln QfA ksiempre, XI, *..usvingthe lcondenservof'jlig.''flthe kiln ,havinga/ inch hi'ghf'dam, and operating at 7 rpm., for 49 hours. The i kiln is initially charged with granular product' from a Yininutes. Average product discharge temperature-isi304 `vbasan `average composition of 78.0% cyanuric .acid Aand :21.4% ammelide findicatingessentially completecon-v v .version of.` the ureaitio crude 'cyanuric acid.l Temperature `of4 the gas in the; exhaust pipe 29 is about 320.,C."

previous run. .Granularfeedprepared-by'spraying 72% aqueous urea increased in strength by the molten con-V -vdensatefromfthe `12.5".Cfc'ondensen-iis feditosthevlciln at an average rate .of.4.3 poundsperrhour. Hold uptin s the kiln `i s'64A pounds, and average; residence time 15' .C. 4The 'granular product discharging vfrom. theikiln ik .cause-the exhaust pipev isheated. to slightly above temperature by vheat from the burner gases. vThe gas condenser walls are maintained at 120130 C. by circulating hot oil through a jacket and the molten condensate is returned to the hot aqueous urea feed to the blender. During the total time of operation, 9,520 pounds of `crude cyanuric acid are discharged from the kiln. Of

and 22% urea, prepared byv blending hot kiln'discharge with 72% aqueous urea feedV in a pug mill, is fed to the kilnat a ratel of 4.06 pounds per minute. "The kiln,

is operated continuously over a 4 hour period, has a 63 pound hold up, and retention time of 15.5 minutes. j Discharge temperature is 372 The crude productana- A'lyz'es 79.1%]cyanuricacid-and 20.1% ammelide. Of the. urea fed to the process',l4.2% is recovered in the` hot condenser; Conversion of urea. consumed to cyanuric acid and materials convertible to cyanuric acid by acid digestion is 80.8%. This is somewhat lower than the yields obtained by operating `in the preferred lower temperature range. Loading of the urea condenser is high, but performance is good. Of the urea fed to the process, 70.0% is converted to cyanuric acid and materialsV convertible to it, 10.8% is converted to CO2 or is unaccounted for, 14.2% is recovered in the condenser with walls held at about 125 `C., and 5% is in the Vent gases from the condenser. j

In this example, overhead losses can be cut down by reducing the retention time to 6 minutes, While conversion remains substantially the same.

Example X V.-.M0lten urea impregnated granules Instead o'f impregnating the crude cyanuric acid granules with aqueous urea, molten urea may be used as the spray in preparing the novel, granular impregnated mixture for feeding to the reactor.

A sigma blade mixer is used, and 25 parts by weight of molten urea at 150 C. are sprayed onto 75 parts by weight of hot kiln spill at 275 C. The mixture is stirred for 3 minutes, `the final temperature being 175 C. The

resultant product consists of granules of crude cyanuric acid impregnated and coated with a partially pyrolyzed urea, and contains 88.5% cyanuric acid plus ammelide, 9.5% urea, and 2% Ibiuret. Thus, `a considerable part of theY urea conversion to cyanuric acid actually takes place during the hot blending step.

This granular material, when fed into a kiln operated exactly like in Example XI, gives comparable results to that obtained with the feed material of Example XI.

When it is attempted to spray larger proportions than 25 parts of urea to 75 parts of crude cyanuric acid, the urea ratio apparently exceeds what can be absorbed by the granules, and sticking occurs during the blending step.

Example X VI.-`Ureagranule mix `hour period at a rate of 2.44 pounds per minute. The

kiln is heatedV so that the bed temperature at the feed 16 end is 170 C., at the discharge end 275 C. Average holding time is about 9.4 minutes.

The -kiln product contains 80.0% cyanuric acid and 19.5% ammelide;v it is converted on acid vdigestion to practically 100% cyanuric acid. About 10% of the urea charged is recovered from the vent gases. Based on urea consumed, the over-all recovery of cyanuric acid after hydrolysis is 81.5%.

The hydrolysis of the high-yield products obtained by recycling crude cyanuric acid granules mixed with urea is somewhat easier than with the products obtained with straight urea feed. The procedure described in the following example is typical of one useful method of hy- 'drolysis of the crude `reactor product with high-yield crude. l

l Example XVII Crude cyanuric acid containing 82.8% cyanuric acid and 17.2% Vammelide is mixed with a volume of 5.0 N- sulfuric acid sufficient to provide 4.9 mols of sulfuric acid for each mol of ammelide, and heated in a closed vessel at 140" C. for two hours. The vessel is cooled and solid Yproduct removed and filtered. It corresponds in weight to a 98.5% recovery of both the cyanuric acid and ammelide contents of the crude cyanuric acid, and consists of 99.6% cyanuric acid and 0.4% ammelide. It is suitable for chlorination.

Pursuant to the requirements of the patent statutes, the principle of this invention has been explained and exemplied in a manner so that it can be readily practiced by those skilled in the art, such exemplication including what is considered to represent the best embodiment of the invention. However, it should be clearly understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced by those skilled in the art, and having the benet of this disclosure, otherwise than as specifically described and exemplified herein.

This application is a continuation-impart of applications Serial No. 614,357, filed October 8, 1956, Serial No. 732,865, tiled May 5, 1958 and Serial No. 741,080, tiled June 10, 1958, all now abandoned.

What is claimed is:

l. A process for converting urea to a reaction product consisting largely of cyanuric acid and ammelide and convertible to commercially pure cyanuric acid by acid hydrolysis, which comprises heating a mass of urea to a temperature in the range of 240 C. to 360 C. at such a rate that the urea is moltenV and then deammoniated through a viscous plastic state to a hard solid state while continuously tumbling the reaction mass at such a rate of speed that the material largely converts into free-owing granules of solid crude cyanuric acid, and removing the crude cyanuric acid from the heat.

2. A process for converting urea to a reaction product Vconsisting largely of cyanuric acid and ammelide and convertible to commercially pure cyanuric acid b y acid hydrolysis, which comprises heating a mass of ,urea to a temperature in the range of 240 C. to 360 C. over a period of 50 to 200 minutes whereby the urea is molten `and then deammoniated through a viscous plastic state to a'hard solid state while continuously tumbling the reaction mass at such a rate of speed that the material largely converts into free-flowing granules of solid crude cyanuric acid, and removing the crude cyanuric acid from the heat.

3. A process for converting urea to a reaction product consisting largely of cyanuric acid and ammelide and convertible to commercially pure cyanuric acid by acid hydrolysis, which comprises heating a mass `of urea to a temperature in the range of 240 C. to 360 C. at such a rate that the urea is molten and then deammoniated through a viscous plastic state to a hard solid state While continuously tumbling the reaction mass past a heat transfer surface at a speed of 50 to 1,000 inches per minute whereby'the material largely converts into .spaanse free-owing granules of solid crude cyanuric acid, and.

to 1,000 inches per minute whereby the material largely p converts into free-flowing granules of solid crude cyanuric acid, and removing the crude cyanuric acid from the heat.

5. The process of claim 4, in which the temperature range is 280 C. to 340 C.

6A The process of claim 4, in which the tumbling rate approximates 250 inches per minute.

7. The process for converting urea to a free-flowing granular reaction product consisting largely of cyanuric acid and ammelide, and convertible by acid hydrolysis and washing to commercially pure cyanuric acid, which comprises mixing granules of such a reaction product with urea to obtain a free-owing granular blend containing to 35% of urea, feeding the free-owing blend into a reaction zone heated to temperatures of 210 to 375 C. to deammoniate the urea through a viscous plastic state to a hard solid state, and moving it through the heated zone while continuously agitating the blend to preserve the granules in free-ilowng form.

8. The process of claim 7, in which the granules move through the heated zone during a period of between 6 and 40 minutes.

9. The process for converting urea to a free-owing granular reaction product consisting largely of cyanuric acid and ammelide, and convertible by acid hydrolysis and washing to commercially pure cyanuric acid, which them through the heated zone while continuously agitatfj Y' y 210 C. to 375 C. to deammoniate the 'urea'through a, p

viscous plastic stage toa hard solid stage, vand moving ing the granules to preserve them in free-flowing form. 10. The process of claim 9, in which the granulesr are in a particle size range of between 1/16 and 1/2 inch.V

1l. The process for converting urea to a free-owing granular reaction product consisting largely of cyanuric acid and ammelide, and convertible by acid hydrolysis and washing to commercially pure cyanuric acid, which comprises blending 5 to 35 of urea and 95 to 65% of n free-flowing granules of such a reaction product, to procomprises applying urea to free-flowing granules of such a reaction product to irnpregnate and coat the granules while agitating the granules to maintain them in freeowingstate, in suicient quantity to produce granules containing l5 to 35% of urea, feeding the free owing granules into a heated zone to raise their temperature to duce a free-flowing blend, moving the blend through a heated zone to raise its temperature to 210 to 375 C. to deammoniate the urea through a viscous plastic stage to a hard solid stage while continuously agitating the blend to preserve the granules in free-owing form, discharging the granules as a ree-owing reaction product as defined above, blending a portion of the discharged granules with sufficient urea to give a blend containing 5 to 35% of urea, and refeeding the blend to the heated zone.

12. In the process of claim 11, the method of blending the granules with urea, which comprises cooling the granules and mixing them with suicient crystalline urea to obtain a mixture containing from 15% to 30% of the urea.

13. In the process of claim 11, the method of blending the granules with urea, which comprises spraying molten urea onto the hot granules while maintaining them under intensive blending, the urea being added in a ratio of between 15 urea to 85 granules and 25 urea to 75 granules.

14. In the process of claim 11, the method of blending the granules rwith urea, which comprises spraying hot aqueous urea solution onto the hot granules discharged from the heated zone while agitating the mass to evaporate the water, the urea being present in a ratio of between 35 urea to granules and 15 urea to 85 granules.

References Cited inthe file of this patent. UNITED STATESVPATENTS 

1. A PROCESS FOR CONVERTING UREA TO A REACTION PRODUCT CONSISTING LARGELY OF CYANURIC ACID AND AMMELIDE AND CONVERTIBLE TO COMMERCIALLY PURE CYANURIC ACID BY ACID HYDROLYSIS, WHICH COMPRISES HEATING A MASS OF UREA TO A TEMPERATURE IN THE RANGE OF 240*C. TO 360*C. AT SUCH A RATE THAT THE UREA IS MOLTEN AND THEN DEAMMONIATED THROUGH A VISCOUS PLASTIC STATE TO A HARD SOLID STATE WHILE CONTINUOUSLY TUMBLING THE REACTION MASS AT SUCH A RATE OF SPEED THAT THE MATERIAL LARGELY CONVERTS INTO FREE-FLOWING GRANULES OF SOLID CRUDE CYANURIC ACID, AND REMOVING THE CRUDE CYANURIC ACID FROM THE HEAT. 